Yarn demand rises on cotton market

Yarn demand picked up on the cotton market on Thursday in the process of modest trading session, dealers said.

The official spot rate was unchanged at Rs8750, they added. In ready session, over 9,000 bales of cotton changed hands between Rs8050-9100, they said.

Rate of seed cotton per 40kg in Sindh low quality was at Rs3200, while the best quality was available at Rs4100, and in the Punjab prices were at Rs3500-4300, they said.

In Sindh, Binola prices per maund were at Rs1400-1800, in Punjab rates were at Rs1650-1800, they said and adding that polyester fibre was available at Rs179 per kg.

According to the market sources, demand for yarn improved which is an encouraging factor for the traders. It is surprising to note that exports of textile products picked up, this factor would help the basic fundamentals, they added.

Commenting on the market trend in the near future, cotton analyst, Naseem Usman said that trading activity likely to maintain present trend owing to short supply of fine quality cotton.

Adds Reuters: Cotton futures gained nearly 1% on Wednesday as prospects of a "phase one" US-China trade deal boosted investor sentiment ahead of weekly federal export sales data from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA).

Cotton contracts for March rose 0.50 cent, or 0.75%, at 66.94 cents per lb by 01:00 p.m. EST (1800 GMT).

Total futures market volume fell by 6,469 to 15,616 lots. Data showed total open interest gained 1,097 to 206,101 contracts in the previous session.

The following deals reported: 1400 bales from Ghotki at Rs9100 (Prime cotton), 1600 bales from Dharki at the same rate, 1000 bales from Salah Pat at Rs8200, 600 bales from Sadiqabad at Rs8900, 1600 bales from Rahim Yar Khan at Rs8300-8900, 800 bales from Haroonabad at Rs8050-8100, 600 bales from Faqeerwali at Rs8100, 600 bales from Bahawal Nagar at Rs8050, 400 bales from Donga Bonga at Rs8100 and same figure from Fort Abbas at Rs8900 (seed), they said.

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The KCA Official Spot Rate for Local Dealings in Pakistan Rupees
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                     FOR BASE GRADE 3 STAPLE LENGTH 1-1/16"
                    MICRONAIRE VALUE BETWEEN 3.8 TO 4.9 NCL
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Rate              Ex-Gin   Upcountry   Spot Rate    Spot Rate    Difference
                    For      Price     Ex-Karachi  Ex. KHI. As   Ex-Karachi
                                                   on  18-12-2019
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37.324 kg         8,750       160         8,910        8,910            NIL
Equivalent
40 kgs            9,377       171         9,548        9,548            NIL
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